"Every day I wake up in the morning and I sing to her. Not because she is there but because I want her to be. She is the reason I keep going. And one day I want to make her proud of who I am." – Scarlet X'vear, Mind Weaver. Piltover.
Chapter One:
Woken to the sounds of a drunken slur, Scarlet raises her head from her hardened mattress. The most recent of her canvases covers the moon lit window; shining out from behind it. She makes out the faint paint lines of a human body shape before she gets off of the hard uncomfortable floor to investigate the sounds that come from the streets below. Piltover city she thought; what a terrible place to live if you're poor. She carefully moves the canvas aside, looking down at the street below. One of many heroes of the city stumbles through the streets; drunk and hopeless. Ezreal, the Prodigal Explorer of Piltover. Ezreal? She thought as he stumbles into nearby trash cans, falling over on the hard stone paved slum street. He's making too much noise. Is he trying to get himself killed?
A fleeting glimpse of purple in the blue toned moonlight catches Scarlet's eye. She looks to the top row of Piltovian houses to see a female shadowy figure standing on the top of the highest point looking down at the streets below. Scarlet looks in the same direction as the figure to see that she is looking directly at Ezreal. He stumbles through the streets calling out to his beloved Lux. Scarlet remembers about half a year ago when it was announced on the Piltovian news that Lux and Ezreal were finally getting married. She looks back to the top of the houses to see the double platted pigtailed figure bounding down towards him. Scarlet pushes herself away from the window, running out of her room, through the kitchen and down the flight of stairs to the door way. When she opens it Ezreal turns his head; seeing her blonde hair flow down to the ground behind her. He stumbles towards her saying:
"Lux! Please forgive me… I'm sorr-" He is cut off by Scarlets sudden grip on his shoulders, she pulls the drunk man up the steps to see the shadowed figure standing across the water fissure, looking directly at her with reddish purple eyes. Jinx. Scarlet and Jinx lock eye contact before Jinx breaks into a cattish grin. Scarlet slams the door behind her pushing Ezreal up the stairs roughly and forcefully.
"Lux, listen to me babe… Whatever I did I'm sorry!" Says Ezreal, making an unruly amount of noise.
"Shhhh!" Scarlet pushes him into the kitchen then bounds past the small table, looking out the window. Jinx is running off towards the outskirts of the city, quickly being tailed by Vi. Scarlet closes the curtains looking back at Ezreal who is about to sit down on the chair nearest the kitchen door.
"NO!" she rushes over pushing him back, standing in front of the chair with a very protective look.
"Woah, calm down… Baby I know I'm not the best fiancé… But please!"
"I'm not Lux…" Scarlet says turning back to the chair, carefully dusting off the carved in markings of the chair leg that reads; 'Alsia'.
"What? Baby don't play games." Scarlet turns around lashing out with a butter knife, pulled from the table.
"I SAID… I'm not… Lux." She throws the knife back onto the table, grabbing Ezreal once again. She sits him down in her chair, moving over to the stove and putting her kettle on the boil. She turns back to see Ezreal silently sobbing with his head in his hands. She starts going to each of the windows, closing the curtains and the shutter doors. She stops at her studio door leaving it open, turning back to Ezreal who is now quietly mumbling to himself.
"Oh, I love you Lux! Why are you mad at me..?" He sulks. After a short moment of silence, the kettle begins to squeal. She walks over, taking it off the boil and pouring the hot water into a readily prepared tea cup. She takes it over to Ezreal, kneeling in front of him. She grabs his hand placing the warm cup in it. He looks her in the eye.
"Who are you..?" He stutters, taking Scarlets other hand. She pulls away, standing him up carefully.
"Just drink." She says quietly. The smell of high grade Piltovian ale reeks from his coat, overshadowing the smell of the strong herbal tea. Scarlet gags at the scent as she walks him towards her studio and bedroom. She turns on the light, revealing the rooms interior.
The room is filled with largely red and brutally painted canvases and pallets of paints. On the wall where the entrance door is, a large couch that fills most of the back wall rests. It's covered in boxes and storage containers. Opposite this is the mattress that she sleeps on, old and stiff from lack of use. It smells of oil paints, causing Ezreal to cough and in turn throw up all over one of the smaller paintings.
"Ugh… I'm sorry." He wipes his mouth
"Don't worry about it… Just watch where you're going!" Just as she says this he trips, falling onto the mattress. Scarlet manages to grab the tea from his hands as he falls. He lands on the mattress face first, laying still in total shock. Scarlet lets out a loud sigh as she walks over to the window, closing the blinds. She yawns, placing the tea cup on the windowsill. Her breath fogs up the window through the blinds, she sees a reflection on the bronze metal. A red haired girl with a bright smile.
"Alsia?" Scarlet says as she swings around to see nothing. She sighs, leaving the now snoring Ezreal on her mattress. She enters her kitchen, sitting at the end of the table, looking at the empty seat across from her. She begins to sing quietly and sweetly the words:
'Do not fear, danger near. League of heroes… The League of Legends. They don't falter… Nor shall thee… Piltovians'… Are we.'
She immediately stops singing as soon as she hears the sound of shoes hitting the floorboards behind her. All of a sudden Ezreal lifts his hand up to cover her mouth. She screams, thrashing from side to side, trying to escape his tightening grip.
"Shh… Shhhhh! Want to see something cool?" He slurs the words as he speaks, his voice smelling of rose ale and spirits. Scarlet stops struggling, staring into the darkness before her. Ezreal uncovers her mouth reaching into his pocket. He pulls out a tiny strip of what looks like cardboard.
"What is that thing?" She says with fear.
"It's a special devise called a Hextech, uh, thing… Now, hold still…" He takes it and brushes it on Scarlet's neck. She screams in panic causing him to become startled, he falls backwards hitting his head on the hard wood floor, knocking him out. Scarlet's screaming abruptly cuts off as she falls to the floor next to him, passed out with the brownish strip burrowing into her neck.
